Texas in Photographs.

When you think of Texas, you probably picture cowboys. Men in boots, chaps and that all familiar silhouette of the cowboy hat, riding a sturdy horse. Maybe you picture him at a rodeo, racing around barrels with a puff of dust behind him. Maybe you picture him at the top of a hill, surveying the cattle as they travel along the cattle trail.

Maybe you don’t picture cowboys at all. Maybe you picture a different man, one who sits in an office at the capital. Who feels nothing at all except the adrenaline of being the only one with human rights, who feels superior when he sees the color of his skin in the mirror. One who uses his money and his power to flee when things get cold, to keep his thermostat low when things get hot, to keep his daughter's purity at the forefront of his priorities.

Maybe you don’t picture a man at all. Maybe you picture a woman. A woman who sits in a bathroom, sobbing over a positive drugstore pregnancy test after a rape, a rape the police said would never hold up in court, would never have happened if she dressed more modestly, more christian. Maybe you picture a woman in her gynecologist's office, with a round belly, a full heart, and way too many nursery decorations out for delivery. A woman who is so excited to see her baby on the ultrasound. A woman whose world shatters as the nurse says she can’t find a heartbeat. A woman who will have to carry her silent baby until she dies of sepsis.

Maybe you picture a couple. They leave their lawyer’s office, paperwork in hand, quilting their union together, through wills and powers of attorney, in case the place they call home no longer allows them to recognize it legally. They make plans in case. In case they are separated, in case their children are taken, in case they are murdered.

Maybe you picture a child. A child who feels foreign, trapped in their body. The wrong body. A child who has the confidence to be who they are, if only the doctors would help them make their body match their soul. A child who learns instead to lie, to stifle, to repress. To hide. A child who will grow up to learn that the comfort of others is more important than their mental health. If that child grows up at all.

Maybe you picture that child in a classroom. Maybe it’s better not to.

Maybe you picture a policeman. He stands armed, trained, at the end of a hall. He looks at his phone, he sanitizes his hands. He ignores the screams, as children are gunned down around him. He is not a man at all, perhaps, not even a human, but some kind of soulless, power tripping, weakling. He denies, denies, denies. His leader says it could have been worse. Childless parents disagree. The world disagrees.

Maybe that policeman could have taken action, like he did when he gunned down the man walking down the street, getting gas, driving his car, sitting in his apartment. He only hesitates when the gunman is white, and he only shoots when there is no gunman at all.

Maybe you picture a firefighter. He squats in his heavy, insulated suit, presses his hand to the ground, fighting for breath. His body is overheating as the three digit temperatures scorch his soul. He stands back up, determined to contain the raging wildfires. He works well into the night, only for a new fire to ignite.

Maybe you picture a wasteland, maybe you’re right.

Maybe you picture a crowd, all people, all walks of life. As they hold signs and paint their faces and prepare for the uphill battle that they face.

Maybe you picture the school buses, as they drive, empty of children.

Maybe you picture the leaders. The unelected ones, who show up for each and every Texan, despite the risk. Maybe you picture a man running for Governor, in an election that will mean life or death for many of the people voting in it. Maybe you picture an actor, a man who could do anything with his money and fame, and chooses to spend it on his community. Who sits with them as they cry.

Maybe you picture a different place. Where children can be children, where people of all colors are safe on the street, where women are free to choose, where the beautiful landscape can thrive. Maybe this picture can become reality.

Maybe you can help.

If you live in Texas, please vote this upcoming for Beto O'Rourke. We don't deserve him, we need him. If you don't live in Texas but are able to help, please donate here.